Could Heidi Klum Count on New 'Project Runway' Designers For Emmy Dress?

By The Editors of StyleList Posted Jul 19th 2010 03:17PM

Heidi Klum, who received an Emmy nomination for hosting 'Project Runway,' could-heidi-klum-count-on-new-told reporters recently that she's busy figuring out her red-carpet look for the Aug. 29 ceremonies

"I've been putting my feelers out there. I'm getting close to whittling something down, because you have to," she says of her designer options to our partner Stylelist. "If not, everyone hops on their boat and they're off drinking champagne!"

Then again, Klum could call on her new cast of 17 aspiring designers to make it work for her. "There's some really fun, flamboyant talent this season," she says of the new 'Runway' contestants.

She has Washington on her wish list. "My number one dream would be first lady Michelle Obama," Klum says of her "Project Runway" fantasy judge. "I think she's super-hip, cool, and fashionable."

She wears Christian Siriano. "He has the most business brain. He doesn't forget to send things. He sends look books. He makes sure when he has a fashion show, he invites you," she says of the season 4 winner. "Others mosey on with their business as usual. He sends things for me to see and try. I'm busy myself and he makes it easy. He's clever."

Her kids are split when it comes to fashion. "Johan doesn't care much about what he's wearing. Henry is very particular, even with his pajamas. Leni loves dresses and loves being girlie. She came [to the "Project Runway" set] and the fashion show and wasn't too impressed. I don't think she thought the clothes were girlie enough."

She would like to see the show film in L.A. again. Though she has designs on returning to the West Coast, Lifetime has snipped the idea for good. "People seem to respond better" when the show is in New York, she explains.

She's honest about the contestants' talent. Asked if there's a superstar among this season's designer wannabes, she says, "If you are talking a McQueen or Galliano, their clothes are so spectacular and only a few can do what they do. I don't know if you can put our designers in that same box."

She likes to take it slow. Explaining why the show has switched from an hour-long to a 90-minute format, she says, "People would tell us, 'We don't understand why this person or that person left.' Elimination day goes on for four or five hours and we wanted people to see more of that."

She's not a Mean Girl. Klum denies judge Nina Garcia's claim that she has morphed into the show's toughest critic. "I hope not," Klum says. "I say what I think. Maybe it comes across as mean sometimes, but there are four judges. I don't make the call myself."

She knows what makes for a sexy Mama. "Be organized. Narrow it all done to make it work," she advises. "Get rid of all the things that are too 'Mumsy.' I got rid of all my over-baggy, nasty, jim-jam things that are frumpy, so when you put things together, everything is working."

Interview by Beth Cooney Patrick

Season 8 of "Project Runway" premieres on Lifetime July 29 at 9pm ET.